Our NEWcastle

The Hopwoods have moved to the Newcastle/Kennydale neighborhood.  After 8 years of marriage, we have bought our first home together!  While the real estate market rises, we took advantage last year and sold Alex's Kirkland condo, we are keeping the Mount Baker Seattle house as a rental investment property (which Joanne and I bought together in Dec 2006).  With both of these in mind, God has allowed us to expand our wings for a more spacious home to serve a new community.

We are incredibly grateful and blessed to have a new home for our family!  After a 3 year search and 6 offers later, we were matched with a seller who graciously accepted our offer.  Alex working with the seller's wife at Expedia may have given us an advantage above the competition, but really it was our sympathy sobb letter that pulled on their heart strings.  Since we have walked though so many open houses, we had referred to this house with the kids as "The Tarantula Trampoline" house because of the enormous trampoline in the backyard and its captivating decorative tarantula in one of the staged bedrooms which Ethan admired (later to find out the stuffed tarantula was a subliminal message describing the festive Halloween neighborhood).

With the new house comes change.  Change...from city sirens to deer crossing, from grocery being 2 blocks away to a 12 minute commute, from zero kids on the block to being the newest kid on the block, from a 10 minute walk to school to a 10 minute bus ride, from backyard raccoons to backyard bunnies, from all the Amazon Prime benefits to only a few services (boo, no more Prime Now deliveries).  The most difficult part of the transition was NOT the packing or actual moving.  If you ask Diana - she'd say preparing the (old and new) homes with prep, prime and painting 6 rooms before families moved while also maintaining status quo for the family (school, meals, laundry, grocery shopping, packing, tball activities, toddler class, bathing kids, bedtime routines, etc).  Diana worked 16 hour days during those transition weeks.  The most difficult part of the transition for Alex was (1) maintaining a hold of the finances - sequence of events between extreme taxes, closing on the new home, and getting new tenants, and (2) commuting Luke to/from kindergarten in Seattle from April-June, while living 13 miles away.  The morning traffic was only bearable with the carpool lane, but Alex took Luke to school in morning, then catches the bus to work from a park & ride without any complaints (from door to door was about 1 hour each day), Alex loathes traffic.  The most miraculous part of the transition (apart from our offer being accepted) was the abundant grace the kids had through it all - the kids were flexible, cooperative, and patient - they never felt scared or anxious...a pure miracle from God!  Although its just the beginning, we have yet to find a home church, make new friends and change schools in September, but so far...Christ is leading the way holding our hands through it all and we don't feel anything but LOVED.

Mount Baker, Seattle

Newcastle/Kennydale